This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by: A craft market in an old World War II building in the Port of Los Angeles isn’t the first place you would expect to find a vibrant, buzzy comic shop. But there, right behind Pepper’s Cafe, is a small monument to nerdery, owned and operated by Den of Geek’s own Rosie Knight. Legend has it that the friend who runs Pepper’s invited Rosie to set up a spot to sell her books, and the shop just kind of took off.Rosie and her husband, Nick Marino, have created Cabrillo Beach Curiosities, a space for comics fans rooted in the arts, in L.A., and in the community fostered by a market that’s dedicated to supporting local artists. One that’s also surprisingly into Superman.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});“We contradict the general rules that we all know about comic stores,” says Knight. “Superman is a bestseller for us. Same with Green Lantern; we have a lot of kids who are super into different iterations of Green Lantern, like Kyle Rayner. And we have a lot of success with ’90s Image Comics like Spawn.”When Knight isn’t writing insightful pop culture commentaries for a variety of online journalism outfits, she also pens some delightful comics, including several Godzilla books (Godzilla Rivals: vs. Battra being one of the earliest).However, rather than just running a traditional comic joint, with pull lists and preorders and weekly re-ups from DC and Marvel Comics, Cabrillo Beach Curiosities did something to fit the vibe of the market as a whole, stocking shelves with some new books, a bunch of old ones, and crafts and collectibles from greater nerddom.“One of our very first customers was a woman in her late seventies or eighties who bought a Wonder Woman statue because she loved Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman so much,” remembers Knight. “I think that opened our minds to the fact that this isn’t just going to be a space for kids who come to the craft market with their parents—this is going to be for all ages.”Still, Knight’s passion really shines through when she talks about the shop’s youngest community members. “We’re really lucky because there are a lot of people whose parents have stores in the craft market, so we have a very passionate group of young people—anywhere from three to seven or eight kids ranging in age from quite young readers to teenagers—hanging out and just talking about comics all weekend,” she says.“We have 19-year-olds, and they come hang out with the five-year-olds, and they’re all reading different stuff or talking about different stuff or sharing their experiences. It’s nice to then see the parents come in and open their minds to the idea of comic books and this being a space where kids can come and play.”The port’s craft market had already built a vibrant arts culture in San Pedro, but comics were a missing piece of the puzzle. With Cabrillo Beach Curiosities, Rosie Knight and Nick Marino stepped in to fill that gap, providing an essential “third space” for parents and kids alike—somewhere that folks could go to socialize without spending a ton of money. In doing so, the couple injected a buzz of excitement about a medium that the market was missing, helping to ultimately sweeten the vibe for the whole operation.The post Comic Book Spotlight – Building a Comic Community appeared first on Den of Geek.